President Donald Trump announced this week that he intends to sign an executive order aimed at blocking states from passing laws regulating artificial intelligence.
But a new public service announcement challenges President Trump's position, seeking to explain how children and teens are already being harmed by AI chatbots in the absence of strong state or federal regulation.
5 Strategies to Avoid Dependency on ChatGPT
The spot was commissioned by child safety advocacy groups Heat Initiative, ParentsTogether Action and Design It For Us, and was narrated by actress Juliette Lewis.
A creepy-looking human was cast as the voice and face of a real AI chatbot, which allegedly shared dangerous information to young users who engaged with the chatbot, including how to harm themselves and how to hide eating disorders from their parents. The three examples reference instances in which ChatGPT allegedly led young users to attempt suicide. Experts recently investigated the leading AI chatbots and concluded that they are not safe for teens to use for discussions about mental health.
OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, is being sued by the families of teenagers who died by suicide after an intense interaction with a chatbot. The company recently denied responsibility for the death of 16-year-old Adam Lane, who committed suicide earlier this year after speaking to ChatGPT about suicidal thoughts.
“As parents, we do everything we can to protect our children from harm, but how do we protect them from powerful technologies designed to exploit our vulnerabilities for profit?” Megan Garcia said her son Sewell Setzer III died by suicide after a heated relationship with a chatbot on Character.AI. The company has since shut down teen chat on its platform.
“If state AI regulations are blocked and AI companies are allowed to continue producing untested and dangerous products, I fear that many more families will endure the pain of losing a child. Losing another child to AI is unacceptable,” Garcia said.
If you are having suicidal thoughts or experiencing a mental health crisis, please talk to someone. You can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or chat at 988. 988lifeline.org. Trans Lifeline can be reached at 877-565-8860 or The Trevor Project can be reached at 866-488-7386. Text “START” to the Crisis Message Line (741-741). Call the NAMI Helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET, or email us. [email protected]. If you don't like your phone, 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Chat. here it is List of international resources.
Disclosure: Mashable's parent company, Ziff Davis, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April, alleging that the company infringed on Ziff Davis' copyrights in the training and operation of its AI systems.
